Thursday, January 22, 2009

NASCAR.com To Compete With NASCAR TV Partners

The dirty little word in the struggle for media access to your home is "convergence." Click here to read the original TDP column about that issue.

Where NASCAR content is concerned, this is the battle between the NASCAR TV partners, the 24 hour NASCAR radio channel on Sirius and the endless array of Internet websites like this one that all compete for your interest.

These various forms of media all want you as a customer and they all are available easily to most consumers. Convergence is when a user can get the very same information from a variety of sources using different types of machines.

After two months of whining by TDP, SPEED is back on the air with some NASCAR TV content. That network will be joined by ESPN2 when NASCAR Now returns on Monday, February 2nd.

Before the TV guys can get things in high gear, the folks at the Turner Interactive Group in Atlanta, GA are going to give you a redesigned NASCAR.com website for use this season.

Guess what the emphasis is on? That's right, the same video content you will be getting from SPEED and ESPN.

Click here for the demos of the various pages of the new website. The new look has added a lot of one-click video options and put the picture and video content front-and-center.

Here is some additional information directly from the Turner folks:

The new homepage will debut on Thurs., Jan. 29 and will enhance the user experience by providing a streamlined design that showcases breaking news and new callouts for race standings, schedules and fantasy games.

The new video page offers easy access to exclusive broadband features and coverage and debuts a new video player that offers the highest standard in online video.

In addition, NASCAR.COM will debut a special race day version of the site for every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, helping fans gear up for the excitement and intensity of the races with exclusive content and live coverage.

NASCAR.COM is also pulling out the stops with enhanced editorial coverage in 2009, debuting several new features such as Inside NASCAR, a weekly in-depth feature that highlights untold stories both on and off the track; Five Things About, personality driven quick hits about NASCAR drivers, team owners, crew members and officials; and No Margin for Error, comparing and contrasting two drivers every week in their quest to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and hoist the NASCAR Sprint Cup trophy.

TNT announcers Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds are among those who will contribute new regular columns and video commentary, while during the network’s six weeks of racing NASCAR.COM will also once again employ RaceBuddy, an animated online companion that provides viewers extended race coverage on-air and online. RaceBuddy was recently awarded a Global Media Award as the outstanding interactive platform of 2008.

Well, this should make for a very interesting choice for consumers. NASCAR.com has aimed squarely at NASCAR Now and Sunday shows like RaceDay and Victory Lane.

This is an Internet vs. cable TV show-down with both signals probably brought into your house by the very same wire. Talk about convergence at its finest.

The competition for NASCAR video should be fun to watch. Fans may remember that NASCAR.com already gets exclusive video clips from shows like This Week in NASCAR and others produced by The NASCAR Media Group.

Once the season gets underway, TDP will revisit the battle of daily NASCAR video updates and news between the TV partners and NASCAR.com, which is the only official NASCAR website on the Internet. It should be interesting.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Just click on the COMMENTS section below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

11 comments:

JD, I seldom go to NASCAR.com because it seems too cluttered and because, at least to some extent, it blocks direct connection to NASCAR itself. However, since the banquet and Bob Margolis' leaving Yahoo I have gone to NASCAR.com 2 or 3 times each month when none of the other internet sites had any news about PE, BV, GEM, or DEI. From that I have found that after the banquet some of the best articles on what is going on in NASCAR have been by David Caraviello.

I agree, the site is a hot mess. I usually go there after a Google search and that's the article the brings it up (because I'm waiting for JD to get to posting the story). Otherwise I generally only go there to sign into TrackPass.

I'll check it out to see the new bells and whistles, but it definitely won't be my "go to" site like it was when I first started watching.

I really don't see the appeal of watching miniature talking heads on my computer screen. I'd much rather read an intelligent article (I know that puts a big limit on things already) with things I'm not going to get from every other Nascar media. One of the reasons this site is so appealing. Leave the video content to TV and give me good writing, please.

My biggest complaint about NASCAR.com is the cluttered layout and lack of original content. SPEED.com has the same problem. Most of the stuff I might be interested in on either of these sites can be found in the article/column links on Jayski, without all the superfluous junk.

Both of these sites have been criticized for being cluttered and yet they continue to add to the mess. Conclusion: they don't care what users want or need from a website.

I cant stand auto start video and audio, if I want to listen or watch either I'll click them on.

The current is so cluttered I wont bother using it. Many friends I know feel the same way. It was much better before the powers to be screwed it up!

I'll check out the new site but trust me the first time I get audio/video without clicking it I wont use it.

I cant figure out why the brains behind this site refuse to listen to the customer. I wrote on many occasions to express my opinion on the issues with the same old tired excuses. Is it no wonder these markets fail, does anyone ever listen to the customer anymore?

I certaintly dont expect any business to react to my personal opinions but could they at least listen to the general population. All I have ever heard about this site is negative feedback.

Time wil tell, hopefully things will improve the next time around. If not oh well, I surived all last year without it.

Oh, boy, a "redesigned" Nascar.com What a thrill! That site is such a mess, I'm not sure that adding "more" content will be the answer. It will be interesting though to see if they give the fan better coverage than TV. I'm still one of those people that think there is too much pre-race hoopla and not enough post-race coverage.

The first thing I noticed was that the race results, standings, and schedule should be a lot higher on the main page than the bottom 1/3.

Also I'd like them to incorporate the schedule/results/standings of the minor series onto the main page as well, but easier to find than it is currently. I like to follow the east/west/canada/mexico series, but I can't even find it on the main Nascar page without having to Google first. On the current site, they're not described by the series name; you just have to know that "Nascar Home Tracks" is where to find that information.

I am sure that I will continue to use NASCAR.com for a few things- TrackPass, RaceBuddy (thank goodness that is coming back) and a quick recap of points,standings etc. More video, more "gearing up" and less actual racing information does not make me want to go there.I will continue to use Jayski and TDP and others for actual racing news.